Enclosed Projection / Reality Portrait
This project involves the construction of a film projection within the confines of a box or container. The projection mechanism displays a super8 film loop on a ground glass screen that forms the front face of the box.
The idea for this piece came from thinking about the way we use portraits to capture the presence of a subject, and the use of film enabled me to give an illusion of reality by allowing a rudimentary response using a series of still images. There are also references to technology / fear of the unknown/ magic used films here including dune, and Harry Potter.
The current prototype uses a super 8 film loop, and an arduino uno with an ultrasonic ping sensor for the interactive element. The signal from the ping sensor triggers the motor to advance the film loop, and also to power the projectors led lamp.
The portrait only exists in time when when we are looking at it.
Photography – Redscale Film
Take any colour print film and re-spool it reversed into an empty film cassette. Over expose by 2 stops when shooting, then process according to the original film speed rating.
The photography section is now on a separate website ncphotography which uses the koken cms that is aimed at photographers who want to use a familiar interface to manage their online portfolio and provide structured photographic stories that are engaging for users.
Arduino
Experimenting with an arduino is fun and is a great tool for building in functionality to my interactive work.
This is this is my first model for the mechanical side of the box. The main elements are the film transport, the film illumination, and the projection of the image of a ground glass which forms part of the front face (viewing face) of the box
The rear of the mechanism shows the film transport using a series of reduction gears. The final speed will be controlled by the arduino.
I am currently working on a second version of the reduction gearing using metal gears instead of plastic ones in order to create a more robust model and also to handle other film formats.